The Venezuelan mission in Guyana has not received the expected report from authorities in that country on the invasion of Guyana’s territory and the destruction of two mining dredges by the Venezuelan military, nor has there been a response to Guyana’s diplomatic note from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.
Venezuela’s ambassador to Guyana Dario Morandy had said on Friday that he was expecting a report on the issue the following day. When this newspaper sought a comment from him yesterday with regard to this report, he said through his secretary that the mission had received no further information since this newspaper spoke with him on Friday.
Contacted, Guyana’s Ambassador to Venezuela Dr Odeen Ishmael told this newspaper that the mission in Caracas was using its limited resources to get hold of Guyanese living along the border area in Venezuela to find out what they knew of the incident.
He said one such Guyanese had indicated that miners there, who were generally illegal Brazilian, Guyanese and Venezuelan miners, had gotten wind that there was going to be a sweep of the area by the Venezuelan military. The source, he said, indicated that when such “sweeps” were to be made the illegal miners would generally abandon their operations until after the exercise was completed.
Asked about a response to Guyana’s diplomatic note, the ambassador said he had been informed that Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, was currently in Europe, and would not be back in Venezuela until weekend.
Meanwhile, he said that apart from the reports in the online editions of Guyanese newspapers, he had seen nothing else on the situation. He said the Venezuelan media had been very silent on the issue and in fact one leading Venezuelan journalist had indicated to him that they had been seeking information from official sources within the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry but to no avail.
A local military source told Stabroek News that based on investigations, a Venezuelan military troop, comprising some 36 members led by a general, came from a camp at Bolivar. They were accompanied by persons fully equipped with cameras and recorders. It is believed that after patrolling areas in Venezuela they made their way into Guyanese territory.
The source said that the troop, which included an engineering corps, sank one dredge then ordered the crew off another and blew it up. There were at least four other dredges in the vicinity with crew on them and it appeared that they had intended to destroy these as well but by that time members of the Guyana Defence Force arrived and prevented any further damage. At this juncture, the Venezuelan military left.
Shortly afterwards, the source said, two Venezuelan civilian helicopters flew low over the scene where members of the GDF and dredging crew were still present. It is believed that they flew over the area to take photographs or footage of the area.
The local army source believed that the objective of the exercise was to show that the Venezuelan government was serious in its efforts to stamp out illegal mining and fuel smuggling.
The source echoed the ambassador’s source that there may have been illegal mining activity in Venezuela on the bank of the Cuyuni River, which would be the northern bank of the river. By law, it is illegal to mine on the banks of a river.
Meanwhile, the minority opposition parliamentary parties, AFC and GAP-ROAR, in a joint statement, condemned the unlawful use of force on Guyana’s territory by the Venezuelan armed forces on Thursday last, and stated: “Quite frankly, a Note Verbale is a tame response to this action and we call on the Government of Guyana to register a stronger protest using all appropriate diplomatic options available.”
AFC and GAP-ROAR said the latest act adds to “a growing string of transgressions and violations being perpetuated against Guyana by our South American brother.”
They said they believed that the rank of the commanding officer and the manner of the operation raised obvious concerns as to the true intention of these forces at the time.
“No doubt Guyana’s decision to embrace the diplomatic and non-violent route to de-escalate this grave threat has been successful over the years since independence, but the ante is obviously being raised and thus simply adopting a strategy of ignoring the problem will not work,” the statement said.
It said the killing of Guyanese miner, Parsram Persaud just over a year ago, must not be forgotten as the promised investigation and report have not been forthcoming.
Persaud was shot and killed by Venezuelan forces in the Cuyuni River in October 2006, and the rationalization was that the military forces were operating in their so-called “zone of reclamation.” These incidents have to be seen as linked and as part of a larger agenda, the parties said.
Expressing their support to the Guyana government on any initiative it may deem appropriate to deal with this form of provocation and aggression, they asked “For how long can we allow a nation to bully us yet call us friend?”
